BOSNIA: IRISH GROUP U2 FULFILL A PROMISE BY PERFORMING IN SARAJEVO, THE FIRST POP SPECTACULAR IN THE CITY SINCE THE END OF THE WAR IN BOSNIA

Record ID: 387180

  • Title: BOSNIA: IRISH GROUP U2 FULFILL A PROMISE BY PERFORMING IN SARAJEVO, THE FIRST POP SPECTACULAR IN THE CITY SINCE THE END OF THE WAR IN BOSNIA
  • Date: 24th September 1997
  • Summary: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA (SEPTEMBER 23, 1997) (RTV(W) - ACCESS ALL) U2 AND LEAD SINGER BONO ARRIVING AT SARAJEVO AIRPORT/ BONO BOWS MEDIA SURROUNDING GROUP THE EDGE (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) SAYING, "I HOPE IT'S AN INDICATOR THAT NORMALITY IS COMING BACK TO A CITY THAT'S SEEN AN AWFUL LOT OF HARDSHIP AND A LOT OF REALLY EXTREME THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO THIS CITY AND ITS PEOPLE. THE
  • Embargoed: 9th October 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA
  • Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA65Z282EVIW6YO3S1WCXS4UAOH
  • Story Text: Irish supergroup U2 have fulfilled a promise by performing in Sarajevo -- the first pop spectacular in the city since the end of the war in Bosnia.

    The concert, part of the band's massive "Pop Mart" world tour, followed a pledge by the group's lead singer, Bono, when hostilities ended two years ago Bono promised to return after celebrating New Year's Eve in the city with his wife, Ali, in 1995, declaring: "Next time I'll bring the band." Thousands of people from all over the former Yugoslav republics turned out for the concert.

    The band brought in 1,200 tonnes of equipment on 15 buses and 52 trucks over dangerous mountain roads into Sarajevo. The set includes the world's largest video screen, which uses 22 miles (35 km) of electric cable.

    Tourist agencies organised special buses to bring fans from Zagreb in Croatia and Ljubljana in Slovenia - crossing former front lines in the process. The first trains since the war arrived in Sarajevo from Mostar and Maglaj -- both towns in Bosnia's Moslem-Croat Federation.

    Bono spoke about how U2's songs were played in bomb shelters in Sarajevo during the war to drown out the sound of mortar fire.

    He told the packed Kosevo stadium that being in Sarajevo was "your gift from me".

    "(Expletive) the past, live the future, viva Sarajevo(" he shouted to applause and cheers.

    Memories of the war were not far away though. Film footage on a giant 30-metre (100-ft) high screen behind the band showed a beauty contest in the city in 1993 when contestants held a banner which read: "Do not let them kill us".

    Ticket prices were kept low for the 50,000 people who filled the stadium, including two stands of NATO peacekeping soldiers in uniform.
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